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1/ RECAP THREAD: I've gotten a lot of DMs asking what the deal with Light Upon Light is. In short, they claim to be an anti-hate org, but they're defending Frank Meeink, now with the Clarion Project, an anti-Islam hate group that's inspired extremist violence against Muslims.pic.twitter.com/AHfJPj9voA
2/ First, some definitions. What is Light Upon Light? It's a "countering violent extremism" (more on that later) group created by Jesse Morton, a former jihadist propagandist, that purports to help people leave extremist movements.
3/ Frank Meeink is a former skinhead whose life story was fictionalized in "American History X." He's one of Light Upon Light's "influencers," but recently, he's also started working with the Clarion Project, which the Southern Poverty Law Center lists an anti-Islam hate group.pic.twitter.com/kY5MZWUU3J
4/ Kudos to journalist @nickmartin for being the first to point out this connection.https://twitter.com/nickmartin/status/1207691040712359936 …
5/ The Clarion Project is listed as an anti-Islam hate group by the SPLC with good reason. They've spent the last 15 years spreading conspiracy theories about Muslims in the US, inspiring violent extremism from the far-right.
6/ As Hope Not Hate points out, their documentary, "Obsession: Radical Islam's war against the west" was specifically cited by Anders Breivik in his manifesto explaining his murder of 77 people.pic.twitter.com/FcjM5VODiE
7/ This is the Clarion Project's Ryan Mauro, the Director of their Intelligence Network, claiming that Islamic communities around the US are running "training camps... for guerilla warfare training" and specifically mentioning the community of Islamberg, NY.pic.twitter.com/Z4TNMZjr3K
8/ In January 2019, four MAGA supporters were arrested for planning to bomb Islamberg with homemade IEDs.https://www.thedailybeast.com/a-maga-gang-plots-to-murder-muslims-in-islamberg-after-fox-fans-fear-flames …
9/ The Clarion Project has a long history of spreading conspiracy theories about Muslim communities and organizations in the US. They claim that CAIR, a civil rights org, is a part of the Muslim Brotherhood, "set up to advance the Hamas agenda through the media."pic.twitter.com/rqQB3DDJhH
10/ And despite their claims that they're only speaking about extremists, they routinely publish anti-Muslim claptrap like this piece, implying that all Muslims lie to non-Muslims about their true beliefs.pic.twitter.com/24C6bsHNkn
11/ Rhetoric like this inspires violence from the far-right against Muslims. In January, three men were sentenced to federal prison for planning to bomb an apartment complex in Kansas, intending to murder the Muslims who live there.https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/26/us/kansas-somali-bomb-plot/index.html …
12/ So it's ironic that the Clarion Project, considered a hate group by the SPLC, is now starting a "Preventing Violent Extremism" (PVE) program, given that they've, uhhh, mostly been on the supply side of violent extremist rhetoric.https://medium.com/@clarionproject/frmr-white-supremacist-deradicalized-isis-wife-lobby-alec-to-prevent-violent-extremism-pve-69079bf580ff …
13/ To this end, the Clarion Project has enlisted Frank Meeink, the former Nazi skinhead, who represented the group at the recent ALEC conference, pictured here.pic.twitter.com/FbG69b1coN
14/ Meeink himself hasn't responded to the criticism yet.
Why?
He's been busy representing the Clarion Project at this weekend's Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in West Palm Beach.
h/t @agtbloodraynepic.twitter.com/oNoAHk5ZQm
15/ And yes, that's the same Turning Point USA whose leaders keep getting exposed as white nationalists. Must feel just like old times for Meeink.https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/short-history-turning-point-usas-racism …
16/ "Preventing Violent Extremism" is a part of what's known as "Countering Violent Extremism" (CVE), an Obama-era program that was created by the FBI and DHS to surveil Muslim communities across the US, so it's no surprise that an anti-Muslim hate group would be excited by it.
17/ The Brennan Center for Justice recently released an informative series on the background of CVE programs in the US, which I recommend reading.https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/why-countering-violent-extremism-programs-are-bad-policy …
18/ For more background on CVE, I recommend "Suspected and Surveilled: A report on countering violent extremism in Chicago." http://www.stopcve.com/chicago-report.html …
19/ Light Upon Light's response to learning that one of their "influences," Frank Meeink, is working for an anti-Muslim hate group has been baffling. They've chosen to lie about Meeink's involvement with the Clarion Project-- it's not a one-time video-- and refuse to address it.pic.twitter.com/5noknotw21
20/ On Friday, the day after Meeink's current involvement with a hate group was made known, Light Upon Light chose not to address the issue head-on, but to reaffirm their association with him, by tweeting a November op-ed co-written by Meeink and LUL found Jesse Morton.pic.twitter.com/ZwV0BXBu8Y
21/ What we're seeing is the infiltration of hate groups-- like the Clarion Project-- into anti-hate spaces, and "anti-hate" orgs like Light Upon Light defending those hate groups. Why? There's massive government grants being handed out to CVE/PVE orgs right now.
22/ You'll notice that I'm not tagging any individual representatives of Light Upon Light here. When they're confronted directly, they just pretend that they're the victim, and I don't want to deal with that. I just don't want anyone getting taken in by their grift.
23/ So what can you do? Share this thread, and warn others in the fight against fascism about the reactionary history of CVE/PVE programs.
24/ This isn't to say that people can't leave the white nationalist movement, or that there shouldn't be programs to support that work.
There should.
But they don't have to involve the FBI or active hate groups, and we need to be watchful.
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